Israel, Hamas agree new ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli official says

An Israeli official said on Thursday the Jewish state had agreed a ceasefire with Hamas that will begin at 6am on Friday, but the Islamist movement said it had "no information" on a deal.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Israeli official told AFP that Israel and Hamas "have agreed upon a ceasefire that will begin at 6am tomorrow."

An Israeli soldier looks through the sight of his weapon outside the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.Credit:Reuters

Hamas refused to confirm the report, with spokesman Fawzi Barhum telling AFP: "We have no information about this agreement."

The potential breakthrough came as a major confrontation between Israel and Hamas militants entered its 10th day, with the fighting so far claiming 231 lives in Gaza and one in Israel in the worst fighting in and around the enclave in five years.

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A fragile five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, called for by the UN, went into effect at 10am local time, but three mortars fired from Gaza hit Israel two hours later, the army said.

The shells struck in the region of Eshkol, which borders the southern Gaza Strip, the army told AFP, blaming Hamas but without giving further details.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.

Hamas denied any involvement in the attack.

"They are lying. All the Palestinian factions are continuing to observe the truce," a Hamas source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They want to use this as a reason to kill fighters," the source said.

The army later said an explosion near the border wounded one soldier, without giving any details of the location of the blast.

The military responded with artillery fire.

The attacks interrupted a ceasefire called for by the UN on humanitarian grounds, which both Israel and Hamas had agreed to observe between 0700 GMT and 1200 GMT.

Fighting since Israel launched Operation Protective Shield on July 8 to stamp out rocket fire by Gaza militants has killed 231 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and one Israeli.

Gaza militants have fired nearly 1400 rockets at Israel during the Israeli operation, which began July 8, well over 1000 of which have hit the Jewish state, the army says.